Device for assembling framed screens or storm windows



R. F. DONKIN 3,014,507

ING FRAMED SCREENS OR STORM WINDOWS Dec. 26, 1961 DEVICE FOR ASSEMBL 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 1, 1960 INVENTOR RALPH E DON KIN TTORNEY Dec. 26, 1961 R. F. DONKIN 3,014,507 DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING FRAMED SCREENS OR STORM WINDOWS Filed Sept. 1, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 NR VALVE Dec. 26, 1961 R. F. DONKIN 3,014,507

DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING FRAMED SCREENS OR STORM WINDOWS Filed Sept. 1, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIC5.6.

INVENTOR RALPH F. DONKIN TTORNEY United States Florida Filed Sept. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 53,412

4 Claims. (Cl. 140 -109) This invention relates to an apparatus for facilitating the manufacture of window screens and the like'having the same general objects as the Conrad Patent No. 2,753,897, issued July 10, 1956, but directed to different structural features and consequently a different mode of operation.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an apparatus intended to assemble screen cloth and splines in a wide range of prefabricated screen sizes without the need of elaborate and heavy jigs.

Another object is the provision of an apparatus of the general type above described which at the same time retains all of the advantages of the Conrad machine'with respect to superior and uniform quality of the finished product, even though it may be operated by relatively unskilled persons. I

A further object is the provision of apparatus which reduces the'time necessary to make the assembly; in-

I creases the productive output of each worker; decreases unit cost; and improves working conditions by reducing, if not eliminating, noise and physical exertion on the part of the operators. a With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel construction. combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodimentof the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus. FIGURE 1a is a detail cross sectional view showing how the adjustable head is connected with its manually controlled operating chains.

FIGURE 2 is a-detail vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of 'FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 is a detail top plan view of FIGURE 3 with the screening material removed.

FIGURE 5 is a detail longitudinal sectional view taken at right angles to FIGS. 2 and 3 near the rear end of one of the heads and showing the cam for controlling the pitman which controls the screen clamping plate of each head, and the riciprocating bar whose cams engage rollers mounted in the pusher blade carrier, after the clamping plate shown in full lines in FIG. 2 has been moved to the dotted position.

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the rack and pinion means for operating the shaft which controls the reciprocating rods of square cross-section and whose camscooperate with rollers for raising and lowering pusher rods 'for spline pusher bars.

tent

3,014,507 Patented Dec. '26, 1961 ice whether of square or oblong shape, and which include top, bottom and side frame members each having spline receiving recesses; In that connection the apparatus is intended to be readily adjusted to operate simultaneously on opposite side frames of screen frames of a given size, a

and which after one operation are then manually turned to operate on the other opposite frames. In each operation the placing of the screen cloth on the frames and automatically inserting proper splines in the grooves of the pre-formed frame sections, accomplishes the twofold purpose of stretching the cloth and locking the edges in place by the splines.

In its general organization, the apparatus includes a stand designated generally as A appropriately supported by legs B. The opposite side members CC of the stand are preferably of substantially I-beam information,

- of chains shown in FIGS. 1 and la, and later to ,be described more in detail. 1

Between the members E and F, there is provided a support S which is intended to support ascreen frame in a manner so that the opposite rails thereof may have the screen cloth applied and splined thereto. This support S is supported on the top flanges of the side rails C by suitable guides S and S and-may be slidably moved by hand to any selected position between the heads E and F.

The relatively fixed head E and movable head F are of essentially similar constructionand comprise elongated clamping plates for holding the opposite rails of a screen firmly in position while the cloth and splines are forced into place. Therefore, a'description of one will suffice for the other.

Referring more especially to FIGURES 2 to 5, inclusive, it will be seen that the said heads E and F include in their organization outer wall portions 11 and a bottom wall 2. The upper portion of the walls 11 are provided with a screen clamping anvil 3 which includes a spline receiving slot 4 whose upper mouth portion is enlarged to receive a sutficient width of the edge portion of the screen cloth SC to adequately fill the spline groove of the screen frame SF.

The spline slot 4 slidably guides a spline blade 5 car- 'ried by a vertically movable pusher bar 6 having rollers 7 in recesses 8 at the underside thereof. To insure raising and lowering of the spline blade 5 without longitudinal shifting each end 6a of the bar 6 engages a roller 9 having a fixed axis 10 journalled in side walls 1-1. The bar 6 is spring-biased downwardly by suitable springs 11 arranged at either side of the blade 5 in order to insure that the rollers 7 contact with the cams 12 car ried by a reciprocating rod 13. The sliding rod 13 of each head is moved back and forth by a pitman link 14 controlled by cam 15 mounted on the square shaft 16. It will thus be seen that the movable head F can slide on 16 and be operated thereby.

As the shaft 16'turns, it will be understood that the rods 13 will be reciprocated 'to cause the raising and lowering of the spline blades 5 for the purpose of pushthe square shaft passes through the adjustable head F, but

engages with the cam 15 thereof, regardless of the set position of the head F relative to the stationary head E.

Each of the heads E and F are provided with an elongated screen frame clamping plate 20 having a right angularly disposed hook-like clamping arm 21 at their upper ends while their lower ends are mounted to swing upon shafts 22. These shafts are journalled in eyes 23 on the outer face of the plate 20, and are normally biased to the full line position of FIG. 2 by gravity and to the dotted line clamping position by fluid controlled actuators G shown in FIGURES 1 and 3.

Referring to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the outer wall 1 of the head is provided with a suitable bracket 24 having spaced forwardly extending Wings 25 and a back wall 26. This bracket carries a fluid cylinder 27 having piston 28 and cam 29 which is slidably backed up by the inner face of the wall 26. The cam is intended to cooperate with a roller 30 pivotally mounted on the rear wall of the plate 20 as will be apparent from FIG- URES 1 and 3. As will also be seen from the latter figure, when the cam 29 is elevated, the plate 21) moves from the dotted line position to the full line clamping position for the purpose of securing the screen frame rail SF to the surface of the anvil member 3. The cylinder 27 is controlled through a pipe line 27a which is flexible so that it will function properly regardless of where the adjustable head F is positioned on the tops of the rails C-C, as will later appear in the general description of operation.

Referring further to the adjustable head F, it will be observed from FIGURE 1 that it is provided with saddle type guides 32 which travel on the upper flanges of the frame member and C. In order to set the adjustable head to selected position with reference to the stationary head, it may be manually operated in any suitable manner, such for example as by the use of the endless chains 33 which are sheaved over sprockets 34 adjacent the stationary head and sprocket 35 adjacent the opposite end of the frame. The sprockets 34 and 35 are respectively connected by shafts'34a and 35a and the projected front end of the shaft 35a is provided with a hand-crank 36. Upon turning the crank, the upper flight of the chains 33 which are connected to the underside of the adjustable head F as shown in FIGURE 1a may be set by clamp 32a carried by a guide 32, in any selected spaced relation with reference to the stationary head '13. By turning the handle 32b, the clamp 32a will be released for movement of the chains 33.

Referring to FIGURE la, it will be seen that the. head F is provided at its underside with a bracket 37 which is suitably clamped thereto by fastenings 3S and whose underside serves to cooperate with clamping plate 39 to lock the chain to the adjustable head. Of course, this is accomplished by the use of suitable fastenings 40 which will draw 39 to 37.

Referring now to the means for operating the shaft 16, it will be observed from FIGURES l, 5, 6, and 7 that the end 18 which is journalled in the stationary head E is provided with a gear 41. This gear meshes with rack 42 controlled by the stem 43 of a piston operating in fluid cylinder 44. As fluid is admitted to opposite sides of the piston in the cylinder 44, the rack 41 will move up and down to operate the shaft 16 in a manner to cause the cams l and their pitman links 14 to reciprocate the cam square rods 13 which slide on bottom wall 2 between side walls 1-1.

The apparatus shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 for operating the shaft 16 is located at the far corner of the apparatus as shown in FIGURE 1. The rack 42 as it moves upwardly above the frame D enters a hood 42b which prevents contact with the operator or the screens being manipulated.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the stationary head E and the movable head F may be provided with pairs of corner abutments 50 intended to receive the opposite corners of the screen frame SF to prevent sliding thereof before being clamped by 21 to the face of anvil 3. Likewise suitable additional corner abutments 51 may be provided at the inner face of the heads E and F so as to accommodate screen rails which are shorter than the full length of the heads E and F. In other words, it will be understood that opposite rails of rectangular frames can be placed anywhere throughout the heads so long as they are set against corner abutments 50 before being clamped by the flanges 21 of the clamping plates 20. Appropriate adjustments of 50 and 51 are made to see that the screen frame is firmly held in place.

The operation of the device is as follows:

First, the splines for fitting the spline grooves of the screen frames SF are placed upon the upper edges of the spline pusher blades 5 as shown for example in FIGURE 2. The screen cloth SC is then slid on the support S with its opposite edges resting on theinner face portions of the anvil members 3 with its edges covering the spline. The screen frame SF then has its opposite rails laid on the surfaces of the anvil elements 3 as shown for example in FIGURE 2. Thereafter, the fluid cylinders 27 (FIGS. 1 and 3) are operated to cause the clamping plate 20 to be moved from the full line position of FIGURE 2 to the dotted line position thereof as per the sequence of parts in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIGURE 8, together with FIGURE 7, best illustrates the means for effecting the above described sequence of operation. For purposes of clarity, the various fluid lines in the diagrammatic view of FIGURE 8 have been omitted in FIGURES 7 and 8.

A source of pressurized fluid, for example, an air tank T, delivers compressed air to a pair of air valves 56, 58 at x, x.

When the screen components are in position the operator trips the valve 55 (FIG. 1) which is connected to air valve 56 at a. This causes air to leave valve 56 at b to actuate air cylinders 27 for each of the heads E and F to move earns 29 whereby clamp plates 29 are closed to hold the screen frame SF secure. The clamping arm 21 on fixed head E trips limit valve 57 which is connected to air valve 58 at c. This directs air from f on valve 58 to g on air cylinder 44 thereby driving gear rack 42 upwardly. Since 42 is in mesh with driving gear 41 mounted on shaft 16, said shaft will be turned and move the eccentric earns 15 which drive pitrnans 14 that move reciprocating rods 13. These rods have earns 12 which engage rollers 7 mounted in pusher bar 6. When rods 13 are pulled in the direction indicated by the dotted lines of 15 (FIG. 5) earns 12 raise pusher arms 6 which in turn elevate pusher blades 5 seating the splines into the spline grooves of the frame and locking the screen cloth therein.

At the end of the upward movement of rack 42, cam 42a carried by support 42 on gear rack 42 makes contact with limit valve 420! which is connected to air valve 58 at i. This causes a reversal of air flow through valve 58, directing the air from k to h on air cylinder 44, thereby retracting gear rack 42 until cam 42c at the upper end of the rack makes contact with limit valve 42e. Limit valve 422 is connected to air valve 56 at 0 to open air in this valve to control outlet p, which is plugged, thereby reversing valve 56 to exhaust the air from lines 27a and air cylinders 27 which permits the clamping plates 20 to open for removal of the assembled screen.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for assembling splines and the edges of flexible sheet material into the spline grooves of opposite sections of prefabricated frames, a bed, a shaft having its opposite ends rotatably journalled in opposite ends of said bed adjacent one edge thereof, a fixed head at one end of said bed and disposed transversely relative to said shaft, a movable head slidable on said bed and disposed parallel to said fixed head and also slidable relative to said shaft, a support disposed transversely of the bed parallel to and between said heads for selective adjustment relative thereto, and means on each head for placing splines and said sheet material in the frame grooves, said means comprising, spaced side walls and a bottom wall, a reciprocating cam rod slidable on said bottom wall between the side walls, a pitman rotatable with said shaft to actuate said cam rod and in the case of the movable head said pitman being slidable on said shaft, a top wall presen ing an anvil face for supporting a frame section and having a slot located between said anvil face and a sheet material suppcrting face, a spline pusher blade in the slot, a bar above said cam rod and fixed against longitudinal movement to support the blade for vertical movement, rollers on the bar adapted to be engaged by said reciprocating cam rod, springs between the top Wall and the bar to urge the bar downwardly to retract the spline pusher blade and also cause the bar to bear on the cam rod, screen frame section clamping means carried by each head, and means for forcing the clamping means to frame-section-engagingposition in synchronism with the actuation of the reciprocating cam rod.

2. In an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the reciprocating cam rod is provided with lifting and lowering cams for engaging said rollers, and fiuid piston controlled rack and pinion means alternately rotates said shaft to move the cam rods in one direction to cause their cams to lift the spline pusher blades and in the other direction to lower the pusher blades.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the clamping means of each head is an elongated plate having an angularly disposed flange at its upper edge and pivoted at its lower edge to a part of the bed to rock alternately to bring the flange into screen frame clamping and frame releasing position, and fluid operated piston and cylinder means activated to positively effect the rocking movement of the plate to clamping position, and, when deactivated to permit the plates to fall by gravity to frame-section releasing position.

4. In an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating cam rod is provided with lifting and lowering cams for engaging said rollers, and fiuid piston controlled rack and pinion means alternately rotates said shaft to move the cam rods in one direction to cause their cams to lift the spline pusher blades and in the other direction to lower the pusher blades, a pair of fluid valves connected with a source of. pressurized fluid and having fluid lines attached to said fluid piston controlled rack and pinion means and to said screen frame section clamping means, a trip valve connected to one of said fluid valves for admitting fluid through said lines to actuate said clamping means, a limit valve connected to one of said fluid valves and actuated in turn by said clamping means to initiate movement of the rack and pinion means, a pair of limit valves controlled by the movement of said rack and pinion means and connected to said fluid valves, whereby, when the rack and pinion means has completed its initial movement, one of said limit valves is actuated to reverse the operation of the rack and pinion means until the other of said limit valves is actuated which causes relief of the fluid pressure to said clamping means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,284,972 Carson June 2, 1942 2,544,499 Hovey Mar. 6, 1951 2,898,951 Watt Aug. 11, 1959 

